One heat exchange fluid employed with vehicular heat exchangers such as radiators is the air in which the vehicle is moving. The air is commonly ducted through a grill or the like andn passed through the heat exchanger or radiator with the assistance of a fan driven either by the engine or by a small electric motor.
The determination to increase vehicle fuel economy has led to constraints on vehicle size which in turn has led to constraints on the amount of grill area available on a vehicle that may be occupied by the radiator. Furthermore, it is desirable to minimize aerodynamic drag on the vehicle for the same reason and that in turn means that the heat exchange fluid in the form of air must be efficiently used, i.e., that a large percentage of the air entering the vehicle structure through the grill be in fact used for heat exchange by being passed through the heat exchanger or radiator.
In addition, and again to achieve better fuel economy, it is desirable to reduce vehicle weight.
Structure by which certain of the foregoing objects can be achieved is disclosed in the commonly assigned application of Struss et al, Ser. No. 841,208, filed Mar. 19, 1986 and entitled "Heat Exchanger Module for a Vehicle or the Like", now U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,816. Struss et al disclose a plastic bar having a series of recesses along its length and which may be used for mounting heat exchangers to each other or to a vehicle. Each recess has a closed bottom of sufficient thickness to prevent the flow of the heat exchange fluid, namely air, through the recess and of sufficient thinness so as to be easily penetrable by fasteners which may be employed to join the heat exchangers together or the heat exchangers to a vehicular frame.
The present invention constitutes an improvement on the construction disclosed in the Struss et al application.